Goodnight, Travel Well
by Team Dragon Star
Summary: ONE-SHOT: Videl was gone. Somehow, some way, Gohan's world is about to be shaken to the core once more with an unexpected visitor. Only, is it reality or just his cruel imagination?


**Disclaimer: No, I don't own anything. All rights to Dragon Ball/Z/GT belong to Mr. Akira Toriyama, all rights to the song 'Good night, travel well' belong to The Killers and Island Records and no profit is made by publishing this fan fiction.**

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><p><strong>By: Orange Star Express<strong>

**Good Night, Travel Well**

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><p>She was there; no fear plastered on her face, no lifeless eyes peering out into the vastness of an unseen world, no bloodied cloth torn about, just a glowing fount with a kind smile. In the center of the room she stood, and as if in a trance, he was drawn to her side like a lost puppy. No words, none would suffice.<p>

How could this be? Was it the cruelty of dreams lashing out for all those sleepless nights? No, this _had_ to be real, yet it _couldn't._

Eyes of glimmering crystal, heart of gold, flawless creamy complexion, object of an undying affection stared back at his onyx pools extending a small soft hand as if offering to take him away from all of this. _'Videl' _he mouthed her name yet no audible sound left his parted lips. His gaze remained fixated on her gentle features, desperately trying not to blink as if she would simply cease to be once more.

[_The unknown distance to the gray beyond_

_Stares back at my grieving frame_

_To cast my shadow by the holy sun_

_My spirit moans with a sacred pain_

_And it's quiet now_

_The universe is standing still_]

Mere seconds had passed, each one seeming to last an eternity, yet it would never be long enough. Whispers fluttered throughout the deepest corners of his mind, caressing and exciting his spirits with a faint, familiar voice.

'_I know you tried…In you I reside forever'_

The room brightened with her every movement, and he would reach out to her to no avail. Nothing, nothing to _feel_… Nothing, nothing to _hold_… Whispers now came in a mocking tone, a voice so alien, yet so a part of his very essence.

'_This is your fault; you could not save her, what is your worth?'_

Silence, painful silence… He could not answer.

_[And all that stands between the soul's release_

_This temporary flesh and bone]_

Breath quickening, heart racing, he choked out her name in qualm whimpers as he fell to her feet. Her gaze fell on his quivering frame, no judgmental flare in her eyes, no disgust at the pathetic display before her, just _compassion_…

She ran her luminescent fingers through his coal-black locks, a sentiment he could only imagine the feel of—it would not be enough. How much longer would he have to wait? Condemned to a fate of hopeless existence rivaling the darkest circles of hell.

_[And know that it's over now_

_I feel my fading mind begin to roam]_

Why must he be forced to bear such a behemoth weight? This life has given everything and nothing, and all before him he has failed as their '_savior_'. Whispers came and whispers faded, no more comforting than those which came before.

'_On your knees you vehemently weep, and continue to live in a place you've not earned your keep'_

"Gohan…" Her firm voice rose above all others, quelling the chatter wreaking havoc in his conscience. The pale moonlight which pervaded the dark room shifted over their frames with each passing cloud.

_[Every time you fall, and every time you try_

_Every foolish dream, and every compromise_

_Every word you spoke, and everything you said_

_Everything you left me, rambles in my head]_

Tragedy, so many years, yet the scars still run deep. He could not put the words together to speak to her; he always had trouble with that.

"Y-you…I—There's nothing for me _here_ anymore!" he picked himself up, forcing himself to meet her at eye level. There was no way of knowing this wasn't his imagination, whatever it was—he was angry. How could she just stand there, watching him die? Why would she torment him like this?

_[And there's nothing I can say_

_There's nothing I can do now]_

Silence, heart-wrenching silence… No whispers, no warm embrace. Those sapphire orbs said nothing in particular, but he knew what they saw. There was no hiding from her; she could see him for all he was and all he wished he could have been. His deepest fears and thoughts, vulnerable and undeniable to her piercing gaze.

"You know, you always did beat yourself up for things you had no control over" she paused attempting to brush a stray lock of hair from the demi-Saiyan's face, frowning as her gesture proved fruitless. He shivered inadvertently as the sensation of chilled air reached his cheek.

"I always understood how you felt… But you never understood the moving on part, did you?"

Her words hit him like a sack of bricks, did she hear herself? Sure there was moving on from an old pet, a terrible accident, or even the passing of some relative, but this? His friends, his family, and the _planet; _he'd let them all down far too many times, but most unforgivably he let _her _down.

She did not narrow her eyes at him as she usually did when trying to discern his unexpressed thoughts bubbling behind a deteriorating façade of nonchalant, there was no need.

'_Where could I possibly move on to?' _he mused, searching for a sense of purpose in a sea of doubt. Nothing made sense—but when had it lately? Discombobulating signs and voices with no way of knowing what they meant, and truly everything felt as if it would dissolve into sand right then and there, as it eventually would.

'_Don't think too hard because you might just figure it out'_

'_Underground, forgotten…'_

They would not stop, and all of the strength in the world would do him no good. Only _she_ could have silenced his inner demons_. _And now she faded, her bright glow extinguished and her features growing vague as she vanished as quickly as she'd appeared.

_[Everything you loved and every time you try _

_Everybody's watching and everybody cry _

_Stay, don't leave me _

_The stars can wait for your sign _

_Don't signal now]_

There she was slipping from his grasp again. Incomprehensible noises escaped his mouth as he choked up and the contents of his stomach spilled before him in strained coughs and wheezes. His sickly pale expression turned blood red in agonizing stress. _'Why…' _He'd asked that question so many times before, but there was really nothing more he could say. Death, death and failure rest on his sore shoulders causing him to collapse under a heavy load he could not possibly face on his own.

'_You forge the chains which keep you bound and down, you are not alone…' _came the hushed disembodied voice which now only served to haunt him. Silence followed, and silence remained. His heavy eye lids swept over his bloodshot orbs at a slower pace as the scene of her passing replayed for the millionth time. Cold and lifeless in his arms, taken by the beast locked away in his mind which mocked him so cruelly, slain by _his_ hands…

...

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